Perishable mark for quick-frozen foods



R.r P. MCNAUGHT PERISHABLE MARK FOR QUICK FROZENA FOODS Filed April 25,1959 Feb. 1, 1944.

IN\V'EN.TOR.

Patented Feb. 1, 1944 2,340,337 PERJSHABLE MARK FOR QUICK-FROZEN FOODSRobert P. McNaught, San Francisco, Calif., as-

signor of one-third to Catherine Marie Bastian and one-third to. Ada AnnMcNaught, San

, Francisco, Calif.

Application April 25, 1939, Serial N0. 269,916

3 Claims.

, is rst subjected to a temperature of as low as 50 F. below zero forthe purpose of transforming the natural food to a quick frozen food thathas a microscopic crystalline structure. After this is accomplished, thefood can be kept in a goodcondition almost indefinitely providing thetemperature is maintained at not more than 10 above zero. When food iskept in cold storage,

the freezing is accomplished much more slowly i and this will causelarge crystals to be formed in the product that will puncture the foodtissues. The subsequent thawing out of the product will cause thecrystals to melt and leave openings where the tissues were punctured andthe juices .from the food product will escape through these openings.The product will therefore not have the taste of freshness because thesejuices are lost. In quick freezing, large crystals are not formed andtherefore the food tissues will not be punctured. The juices cannotescape when the food is thawed and the food will therefore have afreshness in taste.

It is necessary that the product, after it is quick frozen, bemaintained at a temperature not more than 10 above zero from the time ofquick freezing up until the time the product is used by the consumer. Ifthe product should accidentally be allowed to reach a temperature higherthan 10 above zero and then subsequently the temperature is lowered tothe former point, the formation of large crystals will take placepuncturing the food tissues and defeating the very lpurpose for quickfreezing the foods. Also many foods will start todeteriorate if they arepermitted to reach a higher temperature than 10 above zero even thoughthey are continually maintained at a temperature below freezing.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an improvement overmy co-pending application, Serial No. 165,532, filed September 24, 1937,now Patent No. 2,216,127. In the application, I showed a mark which willmelt or otherwise lose its identity when the temperature of the producton which the mark is applied exceeds the temperature indicated by themark. A subsequent lowering of the temperature of the product will notclear up the shape of the mark and therefore a person will instantlyknow that the food product has been permitted :to reach. a temperaturetoo high for safety and can refuse to buy the product.

In the present invention, the mark is formed from an edible material andis applied directly to the frozen product rather than to a block of icecontaining the product as shown in my copending case. 'I'he mark will inno way contaminate the food product when both are thawed and thisobviates the necessity of placing the mark in a separate package fromVthe food product. A still further feature lies in the fact that the markmay be made from an edible product which will enhance the food product.For example; a mark formed from wine may be ai plied to a quick frozenp'ot roast. When the mark melts during the cooking of the roast, thewine will give a very desirable -fiavor to the meat. It is possible toprovide the mark on a meltable wafer and insert it in a containercarrying the quick frozen food. The material .forming the wafer, or themark, or both may be constructed to melt at the temperature indicated bythe mark and the material of either will not contaminate the food whenthawed. The wafer could be made of milk when used in connection with aquick frozen product such as peas or corn.

It is further possible to cause the material forming the mark to alsoact as a binder between different blocks of the food. Oysters can bequickly frozen in4 containers and removed from each container afterfreezing in the form of blocks. These blocks may then be placed in alarger container and spaced a slight distance from each other, afterwhich a liquid may be poured into the container and will rise to apredetermined depth. This liquid wili be quick frozen and will bind theblocks of oysters together. The large container can have raisedcharacters for impressing the trade mark or melting temperature of themark in the binding liquid that covers the bottom of each block. In thecase of quick frozen oysters. the binding liquid for the blocks may beoysterv juice and this will not contaminate the oysters when they arethawed.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification,and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a partof this application. in which fectiony consisting Figure 4 is a sideview of a number of blocks of frozen food held together by a quickfrozen liquid with a mark impressed therein;

Figure 5 is a view of a transparent package containing a quickfrozenproduct and a perishable wafer with a mark thereon; and

Figure 6 'is a section through a container with a quick frozen foodtherein and coveredwith a quick frozen liquid having the mark impressedtherein.

In carrying out my invention, I show in Figure l a quick frozen foodindicated generally at I and on this food a mark shown at 2 is placed.This mark can either be painted on the frozen food or sprayed thereonwith the use of a stencil.

The mark is formed from an edible productmixed with sufficient alcoholto cause it to melt at the temperature desired, For example. the markshown in Figure l reads 5 which means 5 above zero-Fahrenheit. After theproduct I is quick frozen and the mark applied thereto, any subsequentraising of the temperature of the product to a point above 5 F., themark will melt and disappear. A subsequent -lowering of the temperaturewill not bring the mark back into prominence and therefore a purchaserwill know that the product has not been maintained continuously at atemperature of 5 above zero Fahrenheit from the time the product wasquick frozen.

In Figure 2, a fruit confection is shown at 3. The confection iscomposed of fruit and fruit juices quick frozen and then the confectionis dipped into milk so that a layer of milk shown at l will be quickfrozen to one face of the product. The layer of milk will provide awhite background for a mark shown at 5 which indicates the temperatureat which the confection must be maintained to prevent it from spoiling.This mark reads 10 which means 10 above zero Fahrenheit. The mark may becomposed of a fruit juice having a natural color mixed with a suiilcientamount of alcohol to cause it to melt when a temperature above 10 F., isreached. Since the mark 5 is made of an edible material. and thebackground 6 is also made of an edible material, the melting of eitheror both will not contaminate the confection 3, but instead will add tothe tastiness of the confection.

In Figure 3 I show another method of applying a mark to a quick frozenfood. A pot roast shown at 6 has been quick frozen and then placed in acontainer 1 so as to be spaced from the side walls of the container aslight distance and also spaced a slight distance above the bottom ofthe container. The bottom 8 of the container has raised projections 8which can form a character or indicate the temperature at which thequick frozen product must be maintained in order to preserve itindefinitely.

The fluid forming the mark may comprise a wine, indicated at III, whichis poured into the container l and will fill the bottom of the containerand rise to a predetermined height along the side of the pot roast. Thewine contains a quantity of alcohol and this may be diluted with fruito'r berry iuice having the same or harmonizing color as the wine to:ause it to melt at any desired temperature below freezing. ,The winewhen frozen. becomes a permanent part of the pot roast and the two maybe removed from the container as a unit leaving the pot roast with animpression therein indicating the required temperature at which the foodmust be maintained.. When the pot roast is thawed, thel wine will alsobe thawed and the wine will mix Awith the pot roast during the cookingprocess and materially aid the cooked taste of the roast. The mark onthe roast is in effect an edible mark which will not contaminate thefood product when thawed,

In Figure 4 I show the marking of a food product such as oystersindicated at II and coated on one face anda part of another with anedible liquid such as oyster juice shown at I2. The oysters are firstquick frozen in separate containers (not shown) to form blocks II andthen the blocks are placed in a larger container and are spaced slightlyfrom each other and also from the bottom of the container for permittingoyster juice to enter the spaces. The large container (not shown) hasprojections similar to those shown at 8 in Figure 3 and theseprojections will impress characters I3 in the layer I2 of oyster juice.'lhe luice is mixed with a sufficient quantity of alcohol or otheredible antifreeze solution to cause the layer I2 to melt at anypredetermined temperature below zero.

The juice will also bind the adjacent blocks II together as shown at I4and this will provide a package containing a number of blocks of anedible product which will permit any desired number of the blocks to beremoved fromthe others at will. It will be noted that the portion of thejuice linking two adjacent blocks together does not extend throughoutthe entire space between blocks and therefore the blocks may be readilysevered one from the other. 'I'he oyster juice when melted will notcontaminate the oysters, but instead will provide the necessary fluid inwhich the oysters may be cooked.

In Figure 5 a kernel type of food is illustrated` such as peas, corn,etc. The kernels I5 are placed in a transparent container I6 and may bequick frozen before or after being placed in the container. A frozendisc or wafer I'I is placed in the vcontainer and this disc carries amark I8 that indicates the temperature below freezing at which the goodsmust be maintained in order to preserve them. The disc may be made ofmilk or other edible products which will melt and the mark may comprisean edible fluid mixed with a suillcient quantity of alcohol or otherlow-freezing solution to cause the mark to melt at the desiredtemperature'. It is possible to combine the milk forming the wafer witha low-freezing solution and thus the wafer will melt when thetemperature exceeds a predetermined point below freezing. Either themilk or wafer or both may have a low-freezing solution combinedtherewith. The melting of the wafer and the markwill not contaminate thequick frozen product I5 and if milk is used for the wafer this milk canbe used in cooking the food product such as peas or corn. 'I'he edibleproduct forming the wafer Il may be poured into a shallow dish andfrozen after which the mark may be applied. The disc is then droppedinto the container with the food product I5.

In Figure 6 a container I9 is shown filled with a quick frozen foodproduct 2B. The top of the container is open and the product is sealedby a fluid that forms into a layer 2l. This fluid will melt at apredetermined temperature below freezing and has characters 22 impressedtherein to designate the temperature at whichthe food must bemaintained.

The layer 2l is composed of an edible material'that will materiallycombine with the product 20, when the two are thawed. If desired, acellophane cover 23 may be placed over the layer Z.

In all of the products shown in the various iigures, no water formingblocks of ice is necessary. The products themselves are quick frozen andthe mark directly applied thereto.

The liquid used in marking the food should melt at a few degrees abovethe temperature at which it is desired to maintain the quick frozenproduct. The temperature at which the mark will melt will vary with theproducts to be marked and also with the wishes of the producer as towhat degree he wishes to maintain his product in order to retain hismark. It is therefore possible to apply two marks to the product, oneindicating the temperature at which the product must be maintained belowfreezing and the other constituting a trade-mark and indicating theorigin of the goods. I do not wish to limit myself to two marks becausesome producers may wish their products marked with several indicators,each one indicating a distinct temperature rise.

The most important feature of my mark is the fact that it consists of aliquid food and therefore will not contaminate the` food product towhich it may be directly applied rather than be kept in a separatecontainer from the food. The mark itself is an integral part of the foodproduct. The food may then be wrapped in a moisture-proof transparentmaterial such as Cellophane. Where wine is used to provide a skin" ofthe desired thickness, color, and freezing point over all or a part ofthe food product, the mark itself may melt at the freezing point ofwater because in this case the mark will disappear when the meltingpoint of the wine is reached.

Foods such as kernel vegetables, fruit salads, fruit juices, etc., maybe quick frozen in containers having an open top as shown in Figure 6.

but ultimately frozen substance interconnecting the units and coveringat least a portion of one side of each unit for binding the unitsininterconnected mass formation but respondingto breaking at connectedplaces between units, said substance forming one of the principal orflavoring ingredients for the edible product when thawed and consistingof an edible anti-freeze solution meltable at a temperature near zeroFahrenheit, thus constituting a tell-tale mark,

the substance having marked or impressed thereon when in a frozen stateat each one 0i the units a symbol which will lose its identity when thetemperature exceeds a predetermined point. Y

2. A comestible comprising a food product in a rigid state due tofreezing, an initially liquid substance frozen in disc form like atablet and associated with the product, said substance forming one ofthe principal or ilavoring ingredients for the product when melted andcombined `there-- with, the substance consisting of an edible antifreezesolution meltable at a temperature near zero Fahrenheit. I.

3. A comestible comprising a food product in a rigid state due tofreezing. an initially liquid substance frozen in disc form like atablet and associated with the product. said substance forming one ofthe principal or ilavoring ingredients for the product when melted andcombined therewith and having a symbol marked or impressed thereon whenin a frozen state, the substance consisting of an edi-ble anti-freezesolution melta'ble at a temperature near zero Fahrenheit, and atransparent container enclosing the food product and tablet.

ROBERT P. MCNAUGHT.

